Delhi court frames charges against Lalu Prasad, family in IRCTC hotel scam case

New Delhi:  In a jolt to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) President Lalu Prasad Yadav and his family members, a Delhi court on Wednesday decided to frame charges against them in the IRCTC hotel scam case.

Pronouncing its decision, the Rouse Avenue Court paved the way for the trial of the accused under Sections 420 (cheating) and 120B (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Prevention of Corruption Act after they pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Special judge Vishal Gogne had reserved its order on May 29 after hearing detailed arguments on framing of criminal conspiracy, cheating and corruption charges against Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav, Prem Gupta, Sarla Gupta, and Railway officials Rakesh Saksena and P.K. Goyal.

The alleged scam took place between 2004 to 2009 when Lalu Prasad was the Union Railway Minister. During his tenure, two hotels were given on lease without following the norms.

The case is related to the alleged irregularities in giving the contract for maintenance of two IRCTC hotels to a firm when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the Railway Minister.

One of the hotels was allotted to Sarla Gupta, who is the wife of Prem Gupta, a close friend of Lalu Prasad. He was also a Rajya Sabha MP at that time.

As per the prosecution, the RJD leader got three acres of prime land through a benami company.

Claiming that there were no irregularities on his part, Lalu Prasad said that the tenders were awarded fairly and sought a discharge.

Recently, the Supreme Court refused to entertain Lalu Prasad’s plea seeking a stay on the proceedings of the trial court in the land-for-job case.

He had moved a special leave petition (SLP) before the top court challenging the Delhi High Court’s rejection of his application to stay the trial proceedings.

This came after the trial court took cognisance of the multiple charge sheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

As per the CBI, during the period 2004-2009, Lalu Prasad (then Railway Minister) had obtained pecuniary advantages in the form of transfer of landed property in the name of his family members in lieu of appointment of substitutes in Group ‘D’ posts in different Zones of the Railways.

A number of residents of Patna themselves or through their family members sold and gifted their land in favour of the family members of Lalu Prasad and a private company controlled by him and his family.

–IANS